Dead Man's Eyes (1944) User Reviews

Dead Man's Eyes (1944) **1/2

[JoeKarlosi · 6/10 · 22 September 2006]

In this above average offering from Universal, Inner Sanctum series regular Lon Chaney plays a talented painter named Dave Stewart who is in love with a girl he intends to marry (Jean Parker). His beautiful model (CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN's Acquanetta) is jealous of their romance and would rather have Dave all to herself. One day after a grueling painting session, Dave's eyewash gets switched with acid, and the artist is rendered blind when he accidentally douses his tired eyes with it. His fiancé's elderly father generously offers to donate his eyes to Dave upon his death, so when the old man is subsequently murdered, all suspicion points to the blinded painter.

This mild whodunit offers a variety of possibilities as to who the murderer might be -- is it Dave Stewart? His jilted model? Or perhaps one of two other men who harbor a jealousy (one loves Acquanetta, the other desires Dave's woman)...? It's a pity the exotic beauty Acquanetta never learned to act (and if you think she's horrible here, you should see her in 1944's JUNGLE WOMAN!). This entry also features Thomas Gomez as a pushy policeman who keeps on Chaney's trail, much as J. Carrol Naish did (but better) in the first Inner Sanctum Mystery, CALLING DR. DEATH. **1/2 out of ****

Intense Atmosphere - Good Movie

[Rainey-Dawn · 7/10 · 23 December 2014]

Dead Man's Eyes (1944) is the third of six Inner Sanctum films starring Lon Chaney, Jr. It is has a very intense atmosphere and is an overall good movie. David Stuart is an artist and engaged to be married to Heather Hayden. Heather's father, Dad Hayden, likes David. Tanya Czoraki is David's model - she falls for David, becomes jealous of his engagement and blinds David. David's friends tell him of a very expensive eye operation that may or may not work involving a dead man's eyes. David loves Heather, he wants to marry her but pushes her away due to his blindness. He's tired of everyone feeling sorry for him and wants his eye sight back. But at what price? Murder for their eyes? Or is David being set up?

This one is quite interesting and worth watching if you like mysteries, crime, thrillers and horror.

7.5/10

The Inner Sanctum: Blind Alibi

[lugonian · 7/10 · 6 February 2016]

DEAD MAN'S EYES (Universal, 1944), directed by Reginald LeBorg, the third in the "Inner Sanctum" mysteries based on the radio series owned and operated by Simon and Schuster Publishers, stars Lon Chaney, Universal's resident horror star, taking time away from both Wolf Man and Mummy characterizations. Opening in tradition with a man's head inside the crystal ball, addressing the audience by saying, "This is the Inner Sanctum, the fantastic world controlled by mass of living, cult seeking flesh. The mind, it destroys, distracts, creates monsters. Yes, even you, without knowing, can commit murder." Here's to another segment: The original screenplay by Dwight V. Babcock revolves around Dave Stuart (Lon Chaney), a struggling young artist nearly completing what might become his greatest painted masterpiece, with Tanya Czoraki (Acquanetta) posing as his model. It so happens that Tanya is secretly in love with Dave, and jealous of his engagement to marry Heather Hayden (Jean Parker), whose father, Stanley Hayden (Edward Fielding), likes Dave enough as if were his own son. This doesn't go well with Nick Phillips (George Meeker), Heather's jealous and former suitor. Alan Bittaker (Paul Kelly), a psychiatrist and Dave's closest friend, has a secret passion for Tanya. After a day's work painting on the canvas, Dave's ends his daily routine by cleansing his tired eyes with eyewash. While conversing with Alan, Tanya unwittingly moves the bottles in his cabinet, which causes Dave to accidentally place acid on his eyes, damaging his cornea and going blind. Because of his handicap and unable to finish his painting, he orders the canvas covered, breaks his engagement to Heather, and turns to self pity by boozing alcohol. The guilt ridden Tanya offers to help and keep Dave company by day, hoping in time he's transfer his affections towards her. However, Dave is given some hope by Doctor Samuel Welles (Jonathan Hale) that he might be able to perform a difficult operation of a cornea transplant that might have him see again. "Dad" Hayden agrees to donate the cornea of his own eyes to Dave, leaving that statement in his will at the time of his death. Because of Hayden's suspicions towards Tanya, he and Dave argue and part company. Wanting to apologize for his actions, Dave visits Hayden at his residence, only to be have Heather walk in and finding him standing over her father's dead body. Accused of his mysterious murder, Doctor Welles does follow through with the operation using dead man's eyes. With the operation unsuccessful, and hounded by Detective Druey (Thomas Gomez), Dave, in total darkness, takes it upon himself to clear his name and solve Hayden's murder and other subsequent murders connected to his supposed crime.

Whether intentional or not, scenes involving artist later blinded, and jealous model, appear to parallel that with Rudyard Kipling's film based story, THE LIGHT THAT FAILED, recently produced by Paramount in 1939, starring Ronald Colman and Ida Lupino. Though not a murder mystery as DEAD MAN'S EYES, THE LIGHT THAT FAILED does involve Lupino's bravura performance as a model who eventually goes mad through endless hours of modeling by destroying the painted canvas. For Acaquanetta, fresh from her recent screen introduction title role as the CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (Universal, 1943), is not a very good actress, and can't compare to Lupino. There are moments where Acaquanetta gives the impression she's reciting her worded lines one by one from cue cards with little or no emotion of expression whatsoever. Jean Parker, looking very much like Jean Arthur in both profile and hair style, comes off better, even through a couple of sudden shrieks. Thomas Gomez, doing a J. Carrol Naish police inspector reprise from CALLING DOCTOR DEATH (1943), adds a little flavor of his own as the hounding police inspector. Lon Chaney does exceptionally well as a tormented blind man, sporting sunglasses, feeling his way around the room with either hands of walking cane, and moments of how to handle himself with the outside world. These moments are briefly motivated in favor of murder mystery, which doesn't hurt the story in the least. Director LeBorg keeps the pace moving for 64 minutes, though abrupt blackouts and middle scene fade-ins are evident.

As with other five features in the "Inner Sanctum" series, DEAD MAN'S EYES slowly faded away from television broadcasts starting by the late 1970s where, due to the Chaney horror film reputation, played part of "Fright Night" or any other Saturday evening horror film nights. Unlike the other five, DEAD MAN'S EYES became the only one to be presented on cable television's American Movie Classics during the 1989-90 season. It did premiere on Turner classic Movies July 13, 2023. Regardless, availability onto home video in 1997 on double bill with PILLOW OF DEATH (1945), and later onto DVD, has assured DEAD MAN'S EYES not completely blind to those curious about this nearly forgotten series of murder mysteries that entertained movie audiences back in the day when films of this nature were quite popular and commonly played. Next "Inner Santrum" episode: THE FROZEN GHOST (1945) Brrr. (**1/2)

The mind truly is a strange thing.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 7 May 2016]

The third movie in the theatrical "Inner Sanctum" series is fine entertainment for old time thriller lovers. Lon Chaney Jr. is in fine form as Dave Stuart, a painter. He's engaged to rich girl Heather Hayden (Jean Parker), and this is in fact a union that her father Stanley (Edward Fielding) is eager to see come to fruition. One day Dave mistakes acid for his eyewash and blinds himself, and Stanley promises Dave that he will provide his own eyeballs for a risky cornea operation should the old man die. Well, the old man *does* get murdered, and Dave falls under suspicion. And, as it turns out, there are others who could conceivably benefit from the death.

"Dead Man's Eyes" is not what this viewer would consider a great mystery, but it *is* a solid and engaging diversion for barely over an hour. (All of the "Inner Sanctum" movies have very trim running times.) It does its job at setting up dubious characters and their motives, and having suspicion keep shifting from one to another. The filmmaking (Reginald LeBorg is the director) is efficient and to the point.

The acting is wonderful from much of the cast. Lon Jr. is rather over emphatic at times, but there's no denying the sincerity of his performance. Parker is cute and appealing. Acquanetta, who plays Tanya, the model who is in love with Dave, is a striking beauty but not much of an actress. Paul Kelly is good fun as Alan Bittaker, Daves' chipper psychiatrist friend. Thomas Gomez is likewise a stitch as the smirking detective on the case. Jonathan Hale (as the eye surgeon), Fielding, and George Meeker (as Heathers' pathetic former boyfriend) are all rock solid.

Fans of Lon Jr. would do well to check him out in this sort of atmospheric Universal B picture, where he's not required to put on elaborate makeup or dress in fanciful costume.

Seven out of 10.

Not bad

[preppy-3 · 6/10 · 11 January 2005]

Artist Dave Stewart is engaged to beautiful rich Heather Hayden (Jean Parker). Unfortunately his model Tania (Acquanetta) loves him too and is insanely jealous. One night he accidentally (???) puts acid in his eyes and becomes blind. There is one chance to regain his sight--an eye operation...but who's eyes will he use? Then someone dies...

A little convoluted but enjoyable, compact murder mystery. It's briskly paced and never dull. The acting is OK--Chaney is just OK in his role, Parker is very good but Acquanetta, while being very beautiful, is a terrible actress. The only problem with this is that it IS pushing credibility to believe that Parker and Acquanetta are head over heels in love with Chaney! Still, not bad. I give it a 6.

Love is blind but so is Chaney

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 25 March 2014]

Lon Chaney, Jr. plays an artist who is engaged to beautiful Jean Parker and has exotic Acquanetta lusting after him. Sounds like a charmed life. But then this genius goes and accidentally puts acid in his own eyes! Chaney's now blind and must await a donor for a cornea transplant. Parker's father offers his corneas, to be removed after he dies. But someone up and kills the old guy and it looks to everybody like Chaney might have done it to speed things up.

This enjoyable entry in Universal's Inner Sanctum mystery thriller series is directed by Reginald Le Borg. Chaney is great in this series. I'm sure he enjoyed getting a break from the monster movies he was making at this time. He gives his all in every Inner Sanctum movie. A really good cast here to back him up. Jean Parker is lovely as always. Thomas Gomez, Paul Kelly, and Jonathan Hale are all great support. Acquanetta is nice to look at but probably the worst actress Universal had in any of their movies. Her monotone line delivery is dreadful.

This isn't one of the best of the series but it's good. The biggest problem, aside from Acquanetta's poor acting, is that the mystery part is unsurprising. The killer is obvious, despite all of the red herrings they have in place. Still, it's fun and fans of the series and Chaney will enjoy it.

I enjoyed this low budget B...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 26 July 2023]

... and it really isn't a horror film. It is one of the Inner Sanctum Mysteries series of movies from Universal.

Artist Dave Stuart (Lon Chaney Jr.) is painting a portrait with Tanya (Acquanetta) as a model. Tanya is madly in love with Dave, although he has given her no encouragement and is in love with a woman he has known since childhood, Heather Hayden (Jean Parker). Dave is not the height of organization and keeps bottles of dangerous acid in the same cabinet as his bottle of eyewash. One day he reaches for the bottle of what should be his eyewash and instead puts acid on his eyes. He is blinded and can only have his sight restored by a cornea transplant. His future father in law has his will changed to say that upon his death his eyes will be used for the cornea transplant Dave needs if he has not found a donor and had the operation yet. And then said future father-in-law is found dead in his study, bludgeoned to death with Dave standing over the body and blood on his hands. Complications ensue, not the least of which is Dave's fiancee not feeling the same about Dave after having found her dad's body with Dave nearby and him having everything to gain from her dad's death.

I really enjoyed this atmospheric entry that is much more mystery than horror, but obviously lots of people didn't or they dozed off, with them saying that the model Tanya deliberately blinded Dave. She confesses to moving the bottles but said she was careless rather than trying to blind Dave as a woman scorned. She never recants this story. Just about everybody but the household pet has a motive to have killed Stanley Hayden, so the rest of the film is how that murderer is found out.

Acquanetta gives a lifeless performance as the model Tanya. It's like she is bored out of her mind and just reciting lines. This kind of performance worked for her in "Captive Wild Woman" where she is a woman produced by glandular experiments performed on an ape and was basically wandering around in shock, but here she just looks like the stand-in in a high school play.

Thomas Gomez is the bad cop in the bad cop/good cop routine who forgot to bring along a good cop. He likes to torment Dave Stuart because he believes him to be guilty. Will he ever be mortified if he is wrong.

The people who ran Universal after the Laemmles lost control, Standard Capital, really were up a creek since everybody on the lot who was loyal to the Laemmles - and that was lots of them - left when the Laemmles did. So think of it as though Mitt Romney, with tons of money but not an artistic bone in his body, now has to run a movie studio with no legacy personnel. Things are rough for a few years as you try to build up franchises, but by the 40s you are bringing in new talent and figuring out how to make Universal Horror work for you. This is where Universal was when this movie was made - trying to live off Universal horror as they got their other franchises and post Laemmle stars off the ground. When I look at the film through that lens it's pretty good.

Good Entry

[Michael_Elliott · 29 February 2008]

Dead Man's Eyes (1944)

*** (out of 4)

Third in the Inner Sanctum series has a painter (Lon Chaney, Jr.) accidentally pouring acid into his eyes causing him to go blind. Soon he's suspected of killing his father in law, the man who was going to give him his eyes for a transplant. This is certainly the best of the three film's I've seen in the series due in large part to a pretty good screenplay that has plenty of twists and turns. I picked up on the ending ten minutes before it actually happened but the film still remained a lot of fun. Chaney also delivers a good performance.

Seen on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater in 1968

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 23 February 2014]

1944's "Dead Man's Eyes" was third of the six 'Inner Sanctum' mysteries, later included in Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50s. Unlike its predecessors, this pretty much ranks as a straight up whodunit, with some macabre touches borrowed from a previous SHOCK! title, "Mystery of the White Room," a 1939 'Crime Club' mystery wherein one character has his sight restored by a corneal transplant from the murder victim. Lon Chaney again is a tortured victim, the (justifiably) starving artist Dave Stuart, whose latest painting is believed to be the masterpiece that will put his career on the path to success. Engaged to wealthy Heather (Jean Parker), Dave is blind to the devotion of his attractive model, Tanya Czoraki (Acquanetta,) who mishandles identical bottles on the artist's top shelf, one containing eye wash, the other acetic acid (surely any man keeping such items side by side gets what he deserves). The unthinkable happens, Dave falling victim to the (intended?) switch, rendered sightless by the acid's corrosive effects. Heather's devoted father (Edward Fielding) wills his eyes to his prospective son-in-law, then winds up murdered in his own home, the blind Dave himself stumbling over the body before his fiancée discovers what happened. Were it not for the endless bickering and/or bellyaching, it might have been the best of the entire series, the too-slow buildup and mostly mediocre acting sinking the whole enterprise. After a horrendous showing in "Jungle Woman," the woeful Acquanetta is once again entrusted with dialogue, displaying all the downtrodden acting prowess of Rondo Hatton in a sadly indifferent display that cannot be considered a performance; rather fittingly, this was her farewell to Universal. Underrated beauty Jean Parker was enjoying her best year in the genre, starring with Lionel Atwill in "Lady in the Death House," Bela Lugosi in "One Body Too Many," and John Carradine in "Bluebeard." As the police inspector, Thomas Gomez, usually cast as villains, doesn't enjoy the kind of juicy dialogue that J. Carrol Naish had in "Calling Dr. Death," but he definitely has more depth than his successors in both "The Frozen Ghost" and "Pillow of Death." The smarmy Paul Kelly is certainly in his element as a psychiatrist mooning over Tanya's questionable qualities, with similar turns in "Star of Midnight," "The Missing Guest," and "The Cat Creeps." Beatrice Roberts, Queen Azura in "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars," had an almost continuous run of unbilled bits, her beauty always standing out, as it does here, easily catching the eye of police guard Eddie Dunn. As for Chaney, this pity party is just a dreary bore, unfortunately foreshadowing the very next entry, "The Frozen Ghost," which at least boasts a much stronger cast. "Dead Man's Eyes" made three appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater- Mar 23 1968 (following 1962's Mexican "The Bloody Vampire"), July 30 1977 (following 1967's Japanese "King Kong Escapes"), and Feb 26 1983 (solo).

For a B-Movie, it's exceptional

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 11 December 2006]

This is one of a series of B-Movies made by Universal as part of their "Inner Sanctum" series--sort of like an Alfred Hitchcock Presents or Outer Limits series for theaters. As a "B-Film", it was not meant as a feature film but a second film on a double-feature, so production values were lower and the film is only about an hour long. Because of this, you just don't expect as much quality out of a B, but occasionally you are surprised to see an example where the writing and acting is still very good and the film engages you despite a meager budget--this is definitely such a film.

Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as an artist who is accidentally blinded. A older man who is like a father to him promises to give him his corneas when he dies for transplantation. Surprisingly, this nice old guy is soon murdered and everyone suspects Lon did this to get the eyes!! This makes for a truly unusual and interesting plot. About the only short-coming is that WHO committed the murder isn't super-hard to guess. But, considering the excellent writing and pacing of this short film, it's well worth a look--particularly for lovers of mystery or suspense.

By the way, on video, this film is part of a two film set of Inner Sanctum mysteries--the other being the less interesting PILLOW OF DEATH.

UPDATE--Since doing this review, I found out that they have also packaged DEAD MAN'S EYES in a six episode DVD set. On volume 1, you get this film as well as CALLING DR. DEATH and WEIRD WOMAN--all starring Lon Chaney, Jr. in different roles.

The eyes have it

[greenheart · 5/10 · 11 November 2019]

A kind of early horror movie. An artist blinds himself and the only answer is to get an eye transplant. The prime candidate for this is then murdered and the blind artist suspected. A love triangle is the motivation for all this. Considering he is blind, the artist moves with alarming swiftness and him deliberately smashing a glass against a wall seems a little dim. A reasonable little plot, if only the acting particularly from the two ladies, was not so wooden.

When a painter gets blinded...

[binapiraeus · 8/10 · 6 April 2014]

Now this is about the most horrible thing that can happen to a painter: when Dave Stuart is just about to finish his masterpiece, of which he hopes he can get enough money to marry his fiancée Heather, his beautiful but somewhat stupid model Tanya mixes up the bottles in his bathroom - and instead of eye fluid, he puts acid into his eyes and is blinded! And now, of course, he feels completely useless, and out of decency he tells Heather he can't marry her; which suits Tanya just fine, because she, who's in love with him too, can play his nurse now and make him dependent on her... But there still is hope: the eye specialist explains that a pair of eyes from a dead man could be transplanted to him, and there's a small chance that he'll be able to see again; and Heather's father, who still loves Dave like a son and wants his daughter to become happy with him, arranges in his will that as soon as he dies, Dave will get his eyes - and that puts the old man in GREAT danger...

Another "Inner Sanctum" mystery full of suspense, jealousy and psychology (Dave's best friend Alan actually is a psychiatrist), with lots of twists and turns to the intricate plot, REALLY eerie moments especially during the transplantation scenes, and marvelous acting, particularly on the part of Lon Chaney Jr. as the blinded artist - a REAL gem among the murder mysteries of the 40s!

Who done it? Who saw it?

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 2 June 2012]

Dead Man's Eyes is directed by Reginald Le Borg and written by Dwight V. Babcock. It stars Lon Chaney Jr, Jean Parker, Acquanetta, Paul Kelly and Thomas Gomez. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Paul Ivano. Part of Universal Pictures Inner Sanctum series, plot finds Chaney as artist David Stuart, who after accidentally being blinded finds himself the suspected murderer of the man who had bequeathed his own eyes for cornea transplant.

A steady if unspectacular entry in the Inner Sanctum series, Dead Man's Eyes is more a mystery who done it than a bona fide thriller. Clocking in at just over an hour, film makes the big mistake of taking too long to get to the actual murder that underpins the drama. For a full length feature film, the 30 minute build up of characters and set up of plot would be most welcome, but in a compact production such as this, for the final third it gives the feeling of cramming too much into too short a running time. There's barely time for proper detective work and suspects are hardly afforded time to become viable. However, on the plus side is that the killer is hidden well enough, the acting is mostly agreeable (except the woeful Acquanetta) and characters are interesting because they are such miserablists, the latter of which helps to feed the picture a sense of hopelessness.

Enjoyable if forgettable come the end, there's enough atmosphere and mystery to keep it just about above average. 6/10

DEAD MAN'S EYES (Reginald LeBorg, 1944) **

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 10 November 2006]

While the plot of this third "Inner Sanctum" film is, in itself, intriguing - and certainly provides plenty of possible suspects - the handling is rather stiff, with too much talk and little real suspense!

Once again, Chaney is the talented object of desire(!) - a painter - torn between society woman Jean Parker and exotic model Acquanetta; he really loves the former but, when he's rendered blind in an accident, he decides to let her go and accepts the latter's care (she being the unwitting cause of his precarious condition!). Paul Kelly has a good role as Chaney's best friend and secret (but unrequited) admirer of Acquanetta.

Parker's elderly father opts to have his eyes transplanted after his death so, when he ends up murdered, police detective Thomas Gomez turns up to root out the guilty party; the denouement, then, is pretty convoluted but not very exciting. While the quality of this series has steadily deteriorated so far from one entry to the next (though the films are never boring and mercifully short), I still look forward to the remaining three installments...

The Scariest Thing is the Title

[dougdoepke · 18 August 2010]

So what's so scary about a corneal transplant. Maybe if they had shown the eyes in a bottle or some of the surgery, there might be a shudder or two. Instead, we get close-ups of Chaney's bleary-eyed squint, which is sort of scary in itself.

This is a tepid Inner Sanctum entry, at best, more of a whodunit than a Chaney horror exercise. The plot is somewhat offbeat—can accidentally blinded artist Dave Stuart (Chaney) see well enough to be a killer, and if not, then who did murder two people. The only suspense is a routine one of finding the culprit. Then too, the damning piece of evidence strikes me as pretty far-fetched. I wish there were a memorable scene or some catchy dialog to recommend here, but there really isn't.

Perhaps the most notable feature is Paul Kelly's (Alan) really authoritative head doctor. He's totally credible. On the other hand, for fans of truly inept acting, there's Acquanetta (Tanya) whose dialog delivery is at times almost painful. Actually, I blame the studio for pushing her into a speaking role she was so clearly unprepared for. All in all, the offbeat premise has more potential than the rather cheap and clumsy treatment it gets here. Too bad.

Third Inner Sanctum Mystery.

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 26 October 2013]

Lon Chaney Jr. plays an artist who accidentally blinds himself with acid(thinking it was normal eye wash) His jealous new model Tanya(played by Acquanetta) feels horribly guilty by her "mistake" and so agrees to take care of him during his period of adjustment. However, the father of the woman he was going to marry agrees to donate his eyes for an experimental cornea transplant upon his death, which occurs quite soon as he is murdered... Who killed him, and why, and will the operation be a success regardless? OK mystery has a number of suspects to choose from, and keeps viewer guessing until the end. Not a classic by any means, but still fairly entertaining.

Dead Man's Eyes

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 17 July 2011]

The Inner Sanctum Mysteries starring Lon Chaney often feature the star in a whole heap of trouble, usually getting the better of the true killer who has set him up as the fall guy at the very end. "Dead Man's Eyes" is a strong entry in the series because the mystery is less predictable and more gripping, casting doubt towards every character but Chaney's love interest, Heather, played by Jean Parker. Chaney is a struggling artist, David Stuart, who uses eye wash after his sessions with exotic model, Tanya (Acquanetta), engaged to Heather Hayden. Dr. Alan Bittaker (Paul Kelly), a psychiatrist, is David's friend, infatuated with Tanya. Tanya, however, is in love with David. Heather's wealthy father adores David, and vice versa, while the constantly rejected Nick Phillips (George Meeker, portraying a sniveling drunk, whose continual pathetic advances towards Heather always result with him being denied) cannot seem to take no for an answer( in regards to his own marriage proposal to Heather). When Tanya accidentally places a bottle of acid where the eye wash is supposed to sit, David's promising life and career will suffer. David, thinking the acid is eye wash, applies the liquid to his eyes and is blinded. What will ensue is the murder of Heather's father with numerous suspects, including David (who is caught by Heather in the room with blood on his hands, having stumbled over the deceased's body) and Tanya (who claimed that she planned to confront "Dad" Hayden (Edward Fielding) about his scathing comments about her being responsible for David's condition and worsening psychological state). Could the suspect be someone else, though?

"Dead Man's Eyes" is as much a soap opera as it is an Agatha Christie mystery. Lots of people in love with the next, each love unrequited because the other wants somebody else. David wants to end his engagement because he has become a sad sack (although he is angered that everyone wants to offer their assistance to him, being treated like an invalid doesn't sit well with him to say the least) informing Heather that he's in love with Tanya. Tanya, who cannot escape the delusion that David actually loves her, denies Alan's intentions for romancing her. Whether David and Heather have a happy ending hinges on an eye surgery (Dad Hayden's eyes were to be used to help David via cornea procedure upon his death) and uncovering the murderer. Thomas Gomez (The Twilight Zone) is entertaining as the detective who gets under David's skin offering his opinions and insight on the case and who he thinks are plausible candidates for killing Dad Hayden.

This series seems to often feature certain identifiable tropes per film such as the detectives confronting Chaney's lead characters, conversing about their suspects/theories, while relating information/reasons that less-than-subtly imply that he (or someone he cares about) could be responsible for the murder(s). Each film stacks the deck against Chaney, with us wondering how he'll get out of his predicament. Chaney is always adored by women (nice) in these films, coveted and revered, with some Lawrence Talbot crisis throwing his life into a tailspin. While not an atmospheric Gothic horror, "Dead Man's Eyes" has enough red herrings—and an interesting motive behind the murders of the film—and a sympathetic victim of circumstance, I think many will find this one of the more entertaining entries in the Inner Sanctum series. Nice twist at the end when it seems Chaney's blind artist is doomed to fall victim to the killer due to his supposed handicap.

B-horror

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 14 July 2023]

Dave Stuart (Lon Chaney Jr.) is a painter blinded by his model Tanya Czoraki (Acquanetta) who is jealous of his girlfriend Heather Hayden (Jean Parker). Heather's father promises Dave his eyes after his death. When he is murdered, Dave becomes the prime suspect.

This is part of Universal's Inner Sanctum series starring Lon Chaney Jr. The premise is poetic. It's a slow old style horror. It's a B-movie. The premise is interesting as a piece of writing. The tension is not always that high. This is solid but unimpressive. It needs more horror and more noir style. It just needs more of everything.

See it purely for Chaney Jr.

[DarthVoorhees · 7/10 · 25 January 2016]

'Dead Man's Eyes' is an old Lon Chaney Jr Inner Sanctum mystery film that practically reviews it's self. These Inner Sanctum films were really the hokiest of B movie film noirs but anyone who is a fan of Universal can't condemn them. You'll notice I'm reviewing this film in an almost plural fashion and it is because all six or so of these films are all pretty much the same movie. Chaney Jr always starred in an odd murder mystery and is the object of obsession between two B movie starlets in a love triangle. It pretty much never changed and 'Dead Man's Eyes' is no exception. The nuances aren't all that interesting. 'Dead Man's Eyes' has Chaney blinded by an accident and really it doesn't matter.

I just love Lon Chaney Jr too much to really trash a movie were he is the lead. And even if they are hokey they are hokey in a consistently entertaining fashion. They are the kind of film noirs that believe and put so much energy in their clichés that you feel you get your money's worth. And really with Chaney Jr in the lead you are getting significantly more than you would from any other boring handsome stock player Universal probably would have casted.

Acquanetta, more than just an Italian hairspray.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 19 March 2017]

Exotic Aquanetta, aka the captive wild woman, shows off her thespian talents in the third of the "Inner Sanctum" series as the model of that seductive romantic idol, Lon Chaney Jr. Jealous over his engagement to Jean Parker, the cold Acquanetta arranges an accident that leads to Chaney's blindness. The segment of Chaney losing his sight is very scary as his pupils fill the screen all white and the vision blurs down to darkness.

A corneal transplant has eye doctor Jonathan Hale hoping that they can restores his sight. Paul Kelly as the psychiatrist friend of Chaney's notices Acquanetta's "primitive" nature, giving way to her obsession growing as she takes care of him after he dumps Parker. When a potential donor is murdered, Chaney's sight is restored, but the so-called dead man's eyes take over Chaney's personality as he faces trial for the murder of the person whose eyes he now possesses.

With some intelligent medical information in regards to medical advancements, this has some intriguing developments, but predictably takes some strange twists. Chaney continues his thought process of speaking over the action, but fortunately he's not whispering this time around. The acting isn't bad here, and even Acquanetta is sincere, if unremarkable, but at least she's not insipid. There's just a lack of consistency in her line delivery. I just didn't find her obsession with Chaney realistic. Thomas Gomez is amusing as an easy going police detective with a knack of manipulating the truth out of suspects.

Interesting to notice that a nightclub sequence features an outtake of a musical number from a Universal 1932 crime drama, "Night World", superimposed over shots of Chaney and Parker at a night club. A fun but far fetched story, it has periods of superb psychiatric visions into the human soul, but suddenly switches into the absurd with plot developments so outlandish that the film suddenly becomes cartoon like in its development.

"Well, you'll be seeing me . . . "

[boscofl · 6/10 · 4 October 2022]

The wheels were beginning to wobble on the Inner Sanctum Express with the release of its third film, Dead Man's Eyes; a fairly pedestrian murder mystery that illustrates the creative team's growing indifference to the material. The story is contrived and Director Reginald LeBorg, who labored impressively on the previous two entries under challenging circumstances, is unable to breathe much life into the story nor draw charismatic performances from his cast. Lon Chaney scores solo top billing above the title in what could have been an impressive tour de force characterization but he is betrayed by the screenplay.

Chaney is cast as struggling painter Dave Stuart who hopes his current portrait of smouldering Tanya Czoraki (Acquanetta) will catapult him to the big time and make him, in his eyes, worthy of his society fiancée Heather Hayden (Jean Parker). Through an innocent but horrible blunder by Tanya Dave accidentally washes his eyes out with acetic acid and is permanently blinded. He becomes embittered and breaks off his engagement to Heather while plunging himself into alcohol. Dave learns there is a risky corneal transplant procedure that could restore his sight but it requires fresh corneas; Heather's father Stanley "Dad" Hayden (Edward Fielding) changes his will to become that donor in order to provide hope. Soon Hayden is found murdered in his home with Dave and his bloodied hands standing over the body. The sightless artist protests his innocence to a horrified Heather but she is unconvinced; however the transplant is still performed. Dave emerges from the surgery still unable to see but determined to discover who killed Hayden and clear his name.

The narrative, concocted by screenwriter Dwight V. Babcock, is an opaque morass of unrequited affection, self sacrifice, and a love triangle between Dave (who loves Heather), Tonya (who loves Dave) and Dr. Alan Bittaker (Paul Kelly) who loves Tonya. On the periphery we also have Heather (who loves Dave) and Nick Phillips (George Meeker) who loves Heather. Everyone has a stake in whether or not Dave gets his eyesight back and they all (except for Heather) have a motive for knocking off Dad Hayden. In true murder mystery fashion all parties get steamed up over Hayden before he turns up dead and the rest of the narrative is concerned with who-done-it. Lots of talking, cajoling, and reasoning conspire with a lack of action to bog the story down. To add further confusion to the plot Babcock seems to have taken a cue from the Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man by portraying the supposedly sightless Dave as someone with script-convenience blindness. In the end it makes sense but it poses unnecessary questions as the tale unfolds. The ultimate solution to the mystery and obscure clue that leads to the culprit's unmasking is ludicrously contrived and positively ridiculous.

Poor Reginald LeBorg seems to run out of creative juice with this one. He employs his familiar techniques of extreme closeups, tight medium shots, and a few montages to compensate for the dull sets and finite locations. The whispering Lon Chaney voiceovers unfortunately return and add nothing to the plot as there is minimal mental turmoil presented; only musings and ponderings over suspects. LeBorg resorts to the old chestnut of blaring newspaper headlines to convey information and, given the bizarre nature of the dead man's eyes angle, seem warranted.

The director fails to cajole animated performances from his cast although the script is a truly formidable opponent. Lon Chaney gives a better and more traditionally solid account of himself no doubt the result of being cast as a middle class, temperamental artist rather than some upper crust professional. He lays it on a bit thick as he broods over his accident; very gloomy, morose, and prone to fly off the handle with minimal provocation as only Lon can (subtlety is, as usual, absent from his interpretation). Chaney's penchant for self-flagellation, merely hinted at in the first two films, detonates into absurdity here as he stews over his situation. Still, this is an enjoyable performance and should please his fans. Jean Parker is solid as Heather and contributes the liveliest turn in the movie while Paul Kelly underplays his role as Dave's friend and psychiatrist Bettiker. Considering his body of work Kelly appears to phone this one in although he has a fine moment at the end when his true nature is revealed. Inheriting the nosy inspector role is Thomas Gomez as Captain Drury; Gomez is his typically oily self in a part that should have been better written. The rest of the supporting performances are ably filled with the exception of Acquanetta, the promoted "Venezuelan Volcano" who failed to erupt here or anywhere else in her brief film career, as the lovesick Tonya. She gives Ramsay Ames a run for her money as the worst performer in the series with a laughably inept rendition of the sultry model.

Dead Man's Eyes represents a turn for the worse among the Inner Sanctum films. Complacency had definitely begun to sink in at this point and the film is neither campy enough to be a guilty pleasure nor intelligent enough for a compelling mystery. There is the novelty of witnessing Lon Chaney solving a crime rather than perpetuating one while enjoying such veteran purveyors of melodrama as Paul Kelly and Thomas Gomez going through their paces. Overall this just seems like a missed opportunity to capitalize on a potentially intriguing premise.

might have been so much better

[christopher-underwood · 5/10 · 2 June 2022]

The third of the Inner Sanctum Mysteries although it begins okay but quickly becomes rather silly and in the end just laughable. It is a bit nasty with him and acid and his eyes but unfortunately the model played by the stunning Acquanetta but her acting is terrible and at the end it is just a shame that might have been so much better.

The Inner Sanctum...

[simeon_flake · 9/10 · 23 June 2013]

The Inner Sanctum mysteries afforded Lon Chaney the chance to stretch his acting chops, sans heavy monster makeup and "Dead Man's Eyes" may be the best of the lot, along with "Strange Confession".

Chaney is a struggling artist who one day accidentally washes his eyes with acid, blinding him & leading to his prospective father-in-law drawing up an agreement that upon his death, his eyes should be used for an operation to restore Chaney's sight. Of course, the old man ends up getting murdered, leading to a pretty involving whodunit as Chaney & the police try to solve the mystery of Dad Hayden's murder.

I don't know if the Inner Sanctum mysteries get much respect from critics, but I found most of them to be very engaging & this was definitely one of the better ones. I'm a big fan of Lon Chaney Jr., I think he deserves to be put up there with the all-time greats of horror, Karloff, Lugosi, Price.

At barely over an hour, Dead Man's Eyes is an entertaining mystery.

Get This!

[boblipton · 4/10 · 15 July 2023]

Lon Chaney's model, Acquanetta, is jealous of his fiancee, Jean Parker, so she puts acid in his medicine cabinet, where she knows he keeps his eyewash to lave his tired eyes after sessions. He does so, and burns out his corneas. Miss Parker's father, Edward Fielding changes his will to leave Chaney his corneas. He's quickly and conveniently found clubbed to death with Chaney standing over him. The operation is not successful, so Chaney calls off the engagement and is nursed by Acquanetta, who is loved by Paul Kelly, who used to yearn for Miss Parker.

I should mention that Thomas Gomez, Jonathan Hale, George Meeker, and Eddie Dunn all have roles in this slop. It was badly directed by Reginald LeBorg, who had recently graduated from directing bad soundies. Mostly though, I am going to discuss Acquanetta, dubbed by studio publicity "The Venezuelan Volcano". She speaks her lines with no accent, nor emotion, nor seeming to understand their meaning, as befits someone from Venezuela whose other roles include "The Ape Woman" in the minds of publicists, I suppose. She was born as Mildred Davenport in Wyoming and appeared in a total of eleven movies. She quit the movies in 1950 and moved with her new husband to Arizona. There she occupied herself with family, charity, and publishing her poetry. She died in 2004 at the age of 83.

Very Good Inner Sanctum Entry

[JLRMovieReviews · 8/10 · 7 October 2013]

With character actors like Paul Kelly, Thomas Gomez and Jean Parker, this Inner Sanctum outing has Lon Chaney as an artist and is one of the better vehicles for Lon. He starred in all six films in the Inner Sanctum series, and this one concerns him putting acid in his eyes by mistake, instead of his intended eye-wash. Or did someone plan it that way? When his future father-in-law says he has put it in his will that Lon gets his eyes for a surgical procedure, the old man is mysteriously killed within days. Did Lon - a blind man - do it? Did a young model, who loves him, do it, so that he will be blind and bound to her forever? Did the psychiatrist do it, because he loves her and he will only have her if Lon gets his sight back? Did the old man's daughter do it? Obviously not! They strike again, when she is on the phone with the next victim. But, you won't find out the answer, until you buy this neat Inner Sanctum series DVD set. Or see it on TV. But I think that's less likely. This b-picture is given grade A production with good actors and quick dialogue that pushes you along. So what are you waiting for? Go into the Inner Sanctum.